House GOP escalates Hunter Biden fight after he skipped Dec. 13 deposition |
Hunter Biden, the embattled son of President Biden, skirted Congress once. He may not get so lucky again. House Republicans, who have targeted Hunter Biden and the president for business dealings, have released a proposed resolution that would put the president’s son in contempt of Congress after he skipped out on a subpoena to appear for a closed-door deposition into an impeachment inquiry hearing on President Biden.
The Hill’s Emily Brooks reports: “The brief resolution directs the Speaker to refer the contempt report ‘to an appropriate United States attorney, to the end that Mr. Biden be proceeded against in the manner and form provided by law,’ and it calls on the Speaker to “otherwise take all appropriate action to enforce the subpoena.”
Hunter Biden had offered to give public testimony, saying he didn’t want his words to be twisted.
The panel declined, and he skipped their behind-closed-doors meeting, instead opting to deliver a public statement in front of the Capitol building. “There’s no evidence to support the allegations that my father was financially involved in my business, because it did not happen,” he said. The Oversight and House Judiciary panels will hold markups Wednesday to consider the resolution.
(More here) |
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Welcome to Evening Report! I’m Liz Crisp, filling in for Aimee this week and keeping you up-to-date on all the news you need to know. Not on the list? Subscribe here. |
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Biden speech at historic Black church disrupted by protesters
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President Biden‘s speech at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Carolina, where nine Black people were killed and one person was injured in a racist attack less than a decade ago, began with chants of “four more years.” But as he spoke about racial reconciliation and the victims who lost their lives on June 17, 2015, the historic Charleston church, he was quickly erupted by pro-Palestinian protestors calling for the U.S. to support a ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas militant group. The protesters, chanting “ceasefire now” were escorted out after they were drowned ut by Biden supporters again starting their “four more years” chants.
“I’ve been blessed to worship here,” Biden said before memorializing the victims of the 2015 shooting. “Moments of great joy. Moments of great pain. Moments of unbearable loss.”
Biden was denouncing the racist attack in South Carolina and racism in general — but former President Trump, who is teeing up an all-but-certain rematch with Biden, spent the weekend arguing for what could have been a more peaceful solution to the Civil War.
Trump told a crowd in Iowa that he thought the Civil War and conflict over slavery could have been stopped by better negotiations led by President Lincoln, who was notoriously assassinated by a Confederate sympathizer near the war’s end.
More from the event via The Hill. Related stories: |
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Baby, it’s gonna be cold outside:
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With the new year came heavier winter weather. A winter storm is on track to bring major flooding and blizzard conditions to the Southeast and East Coast this week. Forecasters say flooding could become a major issue as the storm moves along the coast Tuesday. |
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Blood shortage hits as donors drop:
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The American Red Cross says there is a severe blood shortage right now as the number of donors has dropped to the lowest levels in two decades. The number of people donating blood has fallen 40 percent during that period, which the Red Cross partially attributes to winter weather and respiratory illnesses keeping people from donating blood. The organization said there was also a 7,000-unit deficit in blood donations between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.
To attract more donors, the Red Cross has partnered with the NFL to offer the chance to win a trip to Super Bowl LVII in Las Vegas. Those who register in the month of January to donate blood will be entered in the contest.
More here. |
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The number of people who have pleaded guilty or been convicted by a judge or jury in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. Hundreds more face charges. |
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What’s happening with Lloyd Austin?
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President Biden and top officials in his administration weren’t aware that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had to be transferred to a hospital by ambulance and put into an intensive care unit following complications from a previously undisclosed surgery. But Biden allies say it’s not a threat to Austin’s job, even as the illness still hasn’t been fully explained.
“There is no — no plans for anything other than for Secretary Austin to stay in the job and continuing the leadership that … he’s been demonstrating,” national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Monday. |
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Must watch TV: Trump says he’ll attend court hearing Tuesday in DC
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Former President Trump will be in D.C. Tuesday for a court hearing over his claims that presidential immunity prevents him from being prosecuted over efforts to overturn the 2020 election, which led to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
“Of course I was entitled, as President of the United States and Commander in Chief, to Immunity. I wasn’t campaigning, the Election was long over,” Trump wrote in the online post.
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“Democracy’s dilemma: Why aren’t we solving our biggest problems?” by Harlan Ullman, senior adviser at the Atlantic Council.
“Why Biden’s promise to ‘defend democracy’ won’t be enough to rally voters in 2024,” by Austin Sarat, William Nelson Cromwell professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science at Amherst College. |
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One week until the Iowa Republican caucuses.
25 days until New Hampshire’s primaries.
189 days until the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
224 days until the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
301 days until Election Day. |
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President Biden was in Charleston, S.C., today and is heading to Dallas for former Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson‘s (D-Texas) funeral services.
- This week kicks off the Second Session of the 118th Congress.
- The House will come in at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday for its first official meeting of the new year.
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken is currently on a trip that will take him to Turkey, Greece, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West Bank, and Egypt until Thursday.
Wednesday: -
10 a.m. The House Homeland Security Committee will hold a public eval of Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas‘s handing of the border.
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9 p.m.: Republican GOP candidates former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will headline the latest debate among the two candidates who appear to be duking it out to come in second to former President Trump. Trump will hold his own alternately scheduled event on Fox News.
Thursday: |
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Be sure to check out the “Election Center” the partnership between Decision Desk HQ and The Hill keeping track of polling averages in all the important U.S. House and Senate races and, of course, the race for president. |
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